Michigan

Tigers starstruck in All-Star game locker room

ST. LOUIS -- The unique thing about All-Star games for the players is the clubhouse experience.

Detroit Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson dressed next to Seattle Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki before Tuesday night's game, and Detroit third baseman Brandon Inge used the locker next to starting pitcher Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Tigers pitcher Edwin Jackson found himself next to New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

"I'm going to take advantage of it, too," Jackson said. "I am next to a no-doubt Hall of Famer. You take that opportunity to soak up any information you can.

"And the signatures! I've never asked for them, but I started here. Tim Wakefield said it best: 'You turn into a kid.' After 17 years in the league, he felt like that, too."

Inge said: "I'm not one to get hugely starstruck. But to see how genuinely nice all these people are, I'm really soaking this up as much as I could."

Young Inge flexes arm
Tyler Inge, 4, was among the unexpected highlights of Tuesday afternoon's All-Star Red Carpet Show, a parade of the All-Stars and their family members through downtown St. Louis in Chevy trucks.

Inge let his son throw some of the soft souvenir balls to fans along the route.

"He was drilling people on the way over," Inge said. "I said, 'Sorry, he's got a cannon.' I was dying laughing. People would see him and think he was lobbing it, and it was, wooosh!"

Inge was impressed with the large crowd at the parade, adding fans even packed into parking structures to sneak a peak.

"I was able to take my mom and dad in the parade," Granderson said. "They didn't want to go, but everyone forced them. And they were glad they did it. It was amazing, with the constant cheers almost anywhere along the route."

"I wrote him a letter inviting him to the game," Selig said, "and he answered in 18 to 24 hours and was happy to come. Right or left or whatever, it's a big thing and another testament to the meaning of this sport. We have a tremendous social responsibility, and that intrigued the White House."

Inge might be needed to catch

Inge was an emergency catcher for American League manager Joe Maddon.

"I asked Brandon if he would be opposed to catching," said Maddon, skipper of the Tampa Bay Rays. "He said, 'No.' "

He said Inge also was an outfield possibility.

Maddon said Detroit's Justin Verlander and the Boston Red Sox's Josh Beckett and Wakefield would pitch only if the game went extra innings.

Selig on Cubs sale
Selig on the selling of the Chicago Cubs: "I wished the Cubs sale was made more expeditiously. They will be better off when they have an owner."

Royals manager boosts Inge
Inge said Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman, a member of the American League coaching staff, approached him after being shut out Monday night in the Home Run Derby.

"He grabbed me by the arm," Inge said, "and he said, 'Listen, kid, I don't care that you didn't hit any homers. You're an All-Star and you deserve to be here.' I was really impressed with that."

Discount tickets praised
Selig was complimentary of teams that offered ticket discounts to fans, naming the Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals in particular.

"Detroit's done a lot of it and St. Louis," he commissioner. "So, good for them. They'll make fans for life."